With reporting from the California Independent Booksellers Alliance, Alta Journal presents the bestselling titles at independent bookstores across Northern and Southern California for the sales week ending August 28, 2022.
Those titles include Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest, by forest ecologist Suzanne Simard. Covering the intricate role trees play within the forest, Simard walks readers through tree behavior and habits. Those wanting to learn more about trees should check out Obi Kaufmann’s illustrated field guide to the woodlands of California. Michelle Zauner’s Crying in H Mart also made the bestsellers list, as it has a few times now; for those seeking more Asian American representation, Alta has compiled a list of movies, books, and TV shows centering Asian American families.
For a full list of titles and categories, visit the California Independent Booksellers Alliance.•
Southern California
HARDCOVER FICTION
- Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin, Knopf, $28
- Heat 2, Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner, William Morrow & Company, $28.99
- Babel, R.F. Kuang, Harper Voyager, $27.99
- Mercury Pictures Presents, Anthony Marra, Hogarth Press, $28.99. Read the Alta review
- Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus, Doubleday, $29
HARDCOVER NONFICTION
- Crying in H Mart: A Memoir, Michelle Zauner, Knopf, $26.95
- Happy-Go-Lucky, David Sedaris, Little, Brown, $29
- Bad City: Peril and Power in the City of Angels, Paul Pringle, Celadon Books, $29.99
- Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, James Clear, Avery, $27
- The World’s Worst Assistant, Sona Movsesian, Plume, $26
TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Washington Square Press, $17
- Love on the Brain, Ali Hazelwood, Berkley, $17
- Circe, Madeline Miller, Back Bay Books, $16.99
- Verity, Colleen Hoover, Grand Central Publishing, $16.99
- It Ends with Us, Colleen Hoover, Atria Books, $16.99
TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION
- The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel van der Kolk, MD, Penguin Books, $19
- All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow & Company, $16.99
- Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $20
- How to Focus, Thich Nhat Hanh and Jason DeAntonis (illustrator), Parallax Press, $9.95
- Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Yuval Noah Harari, Harper Perennial, $24.99
Northern California
HARDCOVER FICTION
- Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus, Doubleday, $29
- Babel, R.F. Kuang, Harper Voyager, $27.99
- Horse, Geraldine Brooks, Viking, $28
- The Last White Man, Mohsin Hamid, Riverhead Books, $26
- Nightcrawling, Leila Mottley, Knopf, $28
HARDCOVER NONFICTION
- Crying in H Mart: A Memoir, Michelle Zauner, Knopf, $26.95
- Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, James Clear, Avery, $27
- An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us, Ed Yong, Random House, $30
- Happy-Go-Lucky, David Sedaris, Little, Brown, $29
- Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience, Brené Brown, Random House, $30
TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Washington Square Press, $17
- Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, $18
- Love on the Brain, Ali Hazelwood, Berkley, $17
- Circe, Madeline Miller, Back Bay Books, $16.99
- Verity, Colleen Hoover, Grand Central Publishing, $16.99
TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION
- Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $20
- The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel van der Kolk, MD, Penguin Books, $19
- All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks, William Morrow & Company, $16.99
- Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest, Suzanne Simard, Vintage, $17
- The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War, Malcolm Gladwell, Back Bay Books, $18.99
Source: California Independent Booksellers Alliance
